


Neon, as my heart.

by Feribe



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Chapters to be added, M/M, This is gonna be one hell of a ride, mutations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 17:49:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4531350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feribe/pseuds/Feribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything is perfect.</p>
<p>No diseases, or poverty. </p>
<p>The Heaven on Earth finally conquered, thanks to Shiniwa Inc., the revolutionary company that stablished the Genetics Program on Japan.  Finding and mixing the genes of two individuals who compliment each other, breeding stronger children, the future.</p>
<p>But sometimes genes clash, too strong to blend together. And it leads to mutations, which are strictly regulated. Also, the company must perfect their research. And with the protection of the goverment, scientists can use loners, people no one will miss, for their experimentation.</p>
<p>Haruka Nanase fitted that descriptiom perfectly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grandma's rules

**Author's Note:**

> Haru learns that pain can come in many forms.
> 
> Makoto wishes for a star.

When he was one year old, Haruka hear his mother speaking through the phone in a worried voice.

"The Tachibana's, love. The wife had a miscarriage this morning, poor darling. A perfect boy, according to her husband. They are devastated.. Can you imagine? Nine months waiting and then this.."

Little Haruka didn't quite understand what was going on, his face scrunching up into a frown as his mother continued speaking. And then, he burst into tears, snot running down the chubby cheeks of the infant. His mother dropped the phone in worry, running towards her son.

~ ~

As time passed, small Haruka grew into a beautiful young man, under the gaze of his parents and his grandmother, the old lady who seemed to read every single one of the boy's quiet expressions without fail. The woman showed him the wonders of water, told him of old times when love existed and couples married without caring for genetics. 

She also took him to meet the neighbors, the Tachibana family, and the bright twins who clung to Haruka every chance they got. But even with their bubbly personalities, Haru could notice a lingering sadness in their eyes, in the way they suddenly stopped in the middle of sentences and glanced around nervously. The boy wondered why, even 3 years later, when he turned seventeen and the kids slowly but surely stopped looking around. 

~ ~

Swimming was Haru's main hobby, often choosing to ditch school for a good morning swim at the ocean. The lonely beach offered him peace, since there was no need for social interaction. And it was a Monday when he yet again ignored his school uniform, hanging neatly from his door, instead choosing a fresh pair of jammers and an old cotton jacket. His grandma, after many embarrassing affairs that involved chasing a naked Haruka around the beach, decided to give him the soft piece of fabric along with an explanation of morality. 

He followed the instructions out of respect for his late grandma, since honestly, he didn't care what others thought.

~. ~

Once his skin was pruned, fingers wrinkled beyond recognition, Haruka decided to take a break. But when he emerged from the sea, his stuff (towel, clothes) where nowhere to be seen.

"Odd." He muttered, scowling as he began to walk along the shoreline.

In the distance, he heard a slam, but by the time he turned to investigate, his head slammed against the sand.

~. ~

No one saw the black car parked near the rocks, nor saw the men dragging an unconscious swimmer into the back seat. No one heard the door slamming, and the neighbors ignored the screech of tires against pavement.


	2. Two colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto saves the day, and gets himself in trouble.

Makoto was, contrary to the common belief, actually born. But the problem resided in his eyes.

The Tachibana couple had strong genes, and were instantly attracted to each other when the government announced their match through letters to their respective families. It all went smoothly, and everyone had high hopes for their first child. However, the couple feared. If their genes didn't blend properly, their child could be born dead, or worse, mutated. So when Mrs. Tachibana started going into labor, they locked up in the main bedroom, and brought their son quietly to this world.

And the moment Makoto first opened his eyes, his mother started sobbing.

~. ~  
The news spread around the neighborhood like wildfire, everyone talking about the tragedy.

What they didn't know, is that in the depths of the house, in a crib made of perfumed wood, laid a small boy, with big eyes and a curious gaze, one iris green, the other one hazel.

And while the neighbors commented about a miscarriage, Mrs. Tachibana held her son in her arms, smiling sadly.

The boy couldn't go outside, see the neighbors, make friends. Because that would mean getting caught.

~. ~

When he was nine years old, Makoto learned what pain was. His twin siblings were born, much to his delight, but as the neighbors started walking into the house, the boy had to lock himself up stairs, in the nursery he grew up in and everyone else saw as a sign of grief. Tears rolled down his cheeks, guilt burning his throat because how dared he be jealous of his own siblings, how dared he? But he wished people would also smile at him, wished his parents hadn't to fake a sad look every time his name slipped into a conversation. 

He cried because now, he was a past tragedy, no longer worth mentioning

~. ~

Ren and Ran understood the situation fairly quickly, accepting the fact that their brother was practically a nation security secret. All it took was a look into those bicolored eyes for them to understand that any slip in their words and their brother would be gone.

On the other side, Makoto was over the moon with joy. His twin siblings represented his first interactions with anyone apart from their parents, and his caring nature slowly came forth. His parents watched, prideful, as their children played, but their hearts ached every time the twins left for school, and Makoto couldn't even look out of a window.

It hurt.

~. ~

The lively twin siblings playing on the front yard, on a busy Monday evening.

The neighbors who smiled as they heard the laughter, and watched in horror as the dog approached Ran, who screamed for her brother at the top of her lungs. But not the brother they thought, because running out of the door came a boy, tall but lanky, with messy brown hair.

He who ushered the dog away with with his arms. 

But then the boy looked up, for the first time in his life outside of the house, odd colored eyes shinning in the sunlight.

And it all clicked together, as someone dialed the number of the police, and Ran started to cry.


	3. The day he woke up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Haru, things start to get ugly.

Pain.  
In his wrists, in the bend of his arms, the hardness of his bones, mixing with the feeling of being bound, mind fuzzy with sleep and the numbness that comes with knowing you are helpless. 

Voices drummed around his skull, and he heard someone say "Nanase" but was unable to recognize it as his. Haruka, Haruka, object and subject 203, said the voices, and the number sounded wrong but the voices were too distant, he couldn't reply. There was something in his mouth and it felt dry and heavy on his tongue, like a rock wrapped in cotton. 

Haru opened his eyes and got blinded by the cirurgical light hanging on top of him, shinning like the sun back on Iwatobi, summer evenings when he swam backstroke and allowed his face to tan. The memories of happy days mixed with the shadows moving around him, whispering worriedly about anestesia.

"He's awake!"  
"Get the doctor."  
"Haruka!"-A femenine voice. 

He screamed, and everything went black.

~~  
It took hours for Haru to come back to his senses, and once his eyes were able to open, he groggily took a look around his surroundings. 

The first thing he noticed was the lack of color. Everything, from the ceiling to the glass on top of the nighstand, was white. On the wall to his left was a window, and all he could see was the blue, cloudless sky, no trees or buildings near. "Top floor.." He thought, frowning.

His limbs wouldn't move, no matter how hard he begged them to. It was as if they were no longer his, and the thought frightened him. What was going on? All he could do was shake his torso from side to side, trying to free his legs from the invisible rope that seemed to held them together. And his frantic movements didn't stop, not even when the door opened to reveal a pink haired woman with a wolfish smile. And his mind told Haruka to run, to flee, get away as fast as you can, his brain screamed. 'This woman is bad, this is wrong, wrong..'

But the lady smiled, seemingly pleased with the fright reflected on Haru's blue eyes.

"Welcome, Nanase Haruka."

~~

On a different room, far away from Haru, a man was crying.

He sat on the floor, torso bare for the world to see the scars that covered the tanned skin. And nurses surrounded him, spraying alcohol on new, bleeding wounds, uncaring for the pleas the man screamed. 

His face was covered by his hands, big and strong, but shaking badly. The pain was too much, and his resistance, what once characterized him, was fading. And the tears that fell from his eyes were absorbed by the gauze covering his view, the fabric damp.

Someone called his number (not a name, oh no, those were nonexistent), and the man sobbed harder because he knew that his suffering was far from over.

A hand came up, a hand he couldn't see because of his covered eyes, a hand that slapped him on the back.

~~

Haruka heard a scream.

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? Leave comment!  
> Hate it? Comment!
> 
> Come scream at me thegirlwhowroteinclass.tumblr.com


End file.
